Ingredients:
Serves 4
2 duck legs
Salt (as per method below)
Handful of thyme springs
300g Duck fat
For the pasta
500g strong flour (00)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
100ml Olive oil
100g flat pancetta cut into batons
1/ onion finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
250ml chicken stock
2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage leaves
400g Pappardelle pasta
Pinch of sea salt
Grated parmesan to serve
Method
For the confit duck legs
For the duck, weigh the duck legs. You will need 15g/½oz of salt per kilo of duck legs. Place the duck legs in a roasting tray, sprinkle with the salt and add the thyme, cover the tray with cling film and chill in the fridge overnight.
To cook: Heat a heavy frying pan over a low to medium heat, then add the duck legs to the pan and cover them completely in the duck fat
Bring the duck fat to a gentle simmer and cook the duck legs gently for 2-2½ hours, or until the meat is very tender. Remove the duck legs from the fat, draining off any excess fat, pick the meat and skin off the duck legs, discarding the bones.
To make the pasta: place the flour on a table top and make a well in the middle, add the whole eggs and yolks to the well and then drag the flour over the eggs and pull together, knead the dough briskly for 1 minute, it should be quite stiff and hard to knead. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in a cool place for 1 hour before using.
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and sea salt, coat in the oil and turn the heat down, cover with a lid and allow mixture to cook down and soften, for about 10 minutes.
Now cut the pasta dough into 2 pieces. For each piece, flatten with a rolling pin to about 5mm/¼ in) thick. Fold over the dough and pass it through a pasta machine at its widest setting, refolding and rolling 7 times (not changing the setting) until you have a rectangular shape. It is important to work the dough until it is nice and shiny, as this gives it the "al dente" texture. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Alternatively roll out the dough with a rolling pin to ¼ inch thick on a floured surface, cut into thick 3cm strips to make fettuccini and hang out to dry for ½ hour or till dry to the touch
Add the tinned tomatoes and duck meat to the onion mixture and cook for a further 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Add the stock and simmer for ten minutes, and the sage and season, put aside.
Boil the pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water for a few min’s until al dente (still with a bite) and drain
To serve
Toss the pasta through the duck ragu mix, spoon into pasta bowls, drizzle over some olive oil and grated parmesan
